How dangerous is YOUR PTO?

[brown40]

Mine are in varying states, and have never been messed with. I'm not sure how they manage to find plastic that denatures so rapidly in the sun as 'erosion mustard' PTO cover material. The black ABS types seem to hold up much better. I haven't replaced the covers, and am no more or less terrified of the PTO's ability to tear me up. When I have to run off the seat I'm aware there's an engine driven shaft running the implement, so I don't get close enough to fall into it. If folks really want to 'prevent' risks of injury from PTO shafts, pulleys, chains, and winches, they need to be guarded with solid material you can't break--steel mesh or solid. Most safe is avoiding power equipment altogether.
The trade-off of guarding is ease of accessibility and maintenance--thus a flimsy plastic piece that degrades in the sun meets the manufacturer's legal needs: worked fine when they got it. Replacement parts available biannually--for a modest fee.

 

[JKR]

I look at PTO shaft like a chainsaw. You don't go near the chain on a chainsaw when running so why would you touch a PTO when running.
I keep my cover on my PTO and safety chain on the covers.
My rule around any power equipment is safety first you will live longer.

 

[Streetcar]

How many have older equipment that never came with cover for the pto shaft. My older PhDs has bare shaft.

 

[GreenYellow]

How many have older equipment that never came with cover for the pto shaft. My older PhDs has bare shaft.

My uncle still uses his MF Super 90 every day and there's not a safety mechanism anywhere on that thing. He has a whole row of attachments and none have guards. He's not missing any limbs.

 

[Dftodd]

We used to have an old pto driven wood splitter that ran off a military style pto pump. Wood splitter stayed blocked and chocked where you were using it. You hooked a pto shaft to the pto pump on the splitter, backed the tractor up to it, and someone else connected the pto shaft. No shields for pto shaft, and no clips or bolts securing the pto shaft to tractor or splitter. Just tension from backing the tractor up till the shaft was snug. My grandfather built the splitter out of old dozer and dump truck parts 45 years ago. He sold it to his neighbor when he sold the farm 12 years ago. Wood splitter is still being used as of two years ago when I ran into the guy that bought it. That set up would give someone fits today, but while we had it, it would average splitting around 60 chord of wood yearly.

 

[RaydaKub]

When I was a kid, several neighbors would gather in the fall to chop corn silage. Whether it went into a pile or into the silo, someone almost always got up in the wagon to kick down the silage that would stick to the sides of the wagon. Virtually every time, that man (and sometimes it was me) would climb up into the wagon from the tongue right up over the turning pto that ran the conveyor chain in the forage box. Several pto's had no shield and I couldn't say how well those that did were maintained. There was a small step about 6x6 right above the knuckle to get you up over the front.

Never an accident with anyone, but sheesh, we were stupid.

 

[MikePA]

Please remember this is a Owning Operating forum, not Gruesome Photo forum.

 

[Fawken]

Please remember this is a Owning Operating forum, not Gruesome Photo forum.

It was gruesome, but was it authentic?

 

[CobyRupert]

I'm not that bad yet. But I've gotten off the tractor and walked around to the brush cutter and the shaft is still idly spinning. Which means if you stick your toes under it you are probably going to need a pedicure at a minimum.

So don't properly maintained PTO shields mean you can't see the PTO shaft spinning and mistakenly think the blade has stopped turning?

Seems like proper shields that don't spin present a greater danger in this case.

 

[ecbaatz]

There is only one implement that uses the tractor as a stationary power unit...that's my chipper. The PTO drive shaft cover does not rotate with the shaft itself and I give it wide berth (at least 5-6 feet) even with the cover.
The RFM and rotary cutter...well, if I'm going to leave the tractor, the PTO shuts the tractor down if I don't disengage it.

I have an irrigation pump that we use to water the blueberries. Therefore my pto will stay on with me out of the seat (rear only). I am not going to sit on a stationary tractor for 2-3 hours just to keep the pto running while watering.